Police endanger the lives of students, schoolchildren and others on 24th Nov. Tuition Fees Demonstration

[dotnet]

At the London demo, police 'kettled' the demonstrators mid-afternoon, just as many people were wanting to leave.
The police showed contempt to the schoolchildren, students, parents and lecturers. They lied to them repeatedly; when someone asked how they could get out of the confinement area, they'd indicate a police cordon opposite, or at the other end of the area,even though none existed - the plods at every exit were barring the way, riot shields in hand, making a 'wall.' No exits were opened from mid-afternoon until about 6.30, and all this time, many- probably most - of those present simply wanted to leave the area, having made their point.
There were thousands of people in a confined space, and nearly all of the kids' behaviour was exemplary despite the utter frustration of being penned up against their will. I even saw some sixth formers (or younger) doing the Hokey Cokey. Bless! - they deserved better treatment than they got.
TWO Portaloos were brought in, and no food or water. A relative of mine came down Whitehall to ask why on earth I had been trapped, and again - was met with lies. 'All the demonstrators can leave whenever they want' she was told. 'Well, if that is so, why is no-one leaving?' she asked. 'It's because they're happy where they are' lied the plod.
Should the police not be charged with False Imprisonment? If I locked someone in my house against their will, that would be the charge I would have to face. Yet the police think it is perfectly fine to coop up thousands of young people and to lie that that is where they want to be, closing their ears to the repeated chant of 'let us leave, let us leave.'
Or perhaps reckless endangerment to life would fit the bill. It was an idiotic, dangerous and thoroughly irresponsible decision by the Head of the Metropolitan Police (I suppose)to concur with the way his force operated yesterday. People have been crushed to death in similar oonfined spaces (remember that terrible football stadium tragedy?)
Those young demonstrators are people's loved children. Shocking that the Metropolitan Police force is filled with such contempt for young life and limb.

Riven I'm considering going and am 7 months pg...will report back

police charging students on horses

here
not on the news

When and where Riven?

The next demos that is? Any links?

I've twice tried to put up that post with my dd's written account of how the Millbank demo was for her. First time, I tried to preview it, but the post disappeared, and second time, I just clicked on 'post message' and it disappeared again.

Has anyone else lost their postings twice in succession? I don't want to start getting paranoid...

'Not on the news.'
You don't say.

'Then the crowd is 'attacked' by police on horses, leading one woman to burst into tears and run away.'

They actually made her cry did they the swines? Blimey, it's worse than North Korea.

Thanks so much, Riven, for putting up that link about the mounted police. Horrible, horrible - and I do hope that poor girl got her purse back and that the blonde girl who was so upset (and I think her boyfriend said she was pregnant) - was alright.

I heard the horses from where I was, but didn't know anything about what was going on. I see that it says it was at the Trafalgar Sq end -the big trap I was in was just by the Cenotaph, nearer to Parliament Sq.

The more that is known about this kind of stuff, the more chance there might be to 'police the police' - so, thanks again.

This write up of the day just made me cry.

Not seen this stuff since the Poll tax riots to be honest.

www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2010/11/children-police-kettle-protest

But feel free to keep dismissing it, sure you can rationalise this away as propaganda or exaggeration.

Oops, I stink at remembering my Html, here is the link as an actual link.

www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2010/11/children-police-kettle-protest

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/26/police-student-protests-horses-charge

And now in the news for all.

I'm hoping to go too in future, for my kids' sake - maybe the next protest.

The more police clampdown, the more momentum the protests will get, I hope.

Oh - and Desiderata - thanks for peoving m intitial post so very, very right. My initial assessment of you was just a stab in the dark - but turned out to be right on the nail.

Too dim, too dim, too dim. Oh well, some people can't help it. :)

Hello, Grannieonabike and Fluffles! As promised, here is my dd?s account of the earlier protest in London. For some reason I was unable to post it in the correct thread - I tried twice; what a lot of typing and wasted effort - so I?m posting it a third time in the hope that at last it can go through.
(From letter dated 15th November, 2010):

?The London demo was the best thing in the world! The rioting outside Tory HQ reminded me of videos I?d seen of riots in the 1980s. I rioted a bit (it was wonderful) and learned some obscene chants, then I went off to have a cup of tea with (name). (Name) stayed for as long as she could - she didn?t go inside the building but she rioted outside until the police started taking names. A friend of (name) got arrested! Thank you for your very nice text message about hoping the government listens. I?m not confident about actually managing to change anything, but I?m glad that students all over the place are fighting this horror tooth and nail. The Tory HQ riot was not led by a splinter group of Anarchists - it was led by middle-class students and sixth-formers. It was not violent - I have been in scarier crowds at music festivals. It was exciting and mad. Someone brought a sound system from home and we all rioted to Drum and Bass music. What does Auntie (name) think? What does Uncle (name) think?!
No-one from (her university) got arrested on the demo. There?s a planning meeting tonight that I really want to go to, but I?m in (subject) until six, so I?ll miss it. People are planning lecture walkouts in the next couple of weeks. I?m definitely up for that. Before Cameron came in, I didn?t think much of protests because not much was actually wrong - I liked the government. Now they?re doing all sorts of evil and they need to be stopped. I?ve never felt so fired up before! Modern Languages students are already feeling it because the British Council is unsure as to whether it can do the teaching placements next year?.?

I spoke with dd this a.m., and she said the universities are conference-calling each other and that, among others, EDINBURGH students were showing solidarity in this battle not to let the government shit from a great height on our students. Fantastic - the Scottish university ones are the lucky ones, relatively speaking, even if they?re English. The English students up there have to pay just under 1,900 pounds p.a. (although the Scots students get free tuition).

Dd said that one of the younger kids who is joining in the protests in the town where she lives - a Year 12, I think - was interviewed on local radio and was fantastically articulate about the grievous harm the govt will do to people's educational prospects if their plans go through.

Thank you for posting that dotnet and for starting this thread. The inability of some posters to distinguish between peaceful protest and rioting is really quite frightening. As is the fact that people don't think there's any point in standing up for what you believe in - the apathy in this country is maddening.

I was about to invoke Godwin's Law but it might be too early in the discussion :o

The opening sentence of that "report" explains quite a lot doesn't it?

That's not rioting. That's a child's excitement at being part of something bigger and anarchic feeling. I remember feeling like that too. But that didn't mean that I didn't care passionately about what I was demonstrating about

Electokin I've just read the New Statesman article you put up the link to, and it was all true, every last word of it. My relative who came down Whitehall and argued very hard with a higher up policeman to get me let out, - said she was upset to realise that schoolchildren were stuck and unable to get out as well. Worried parents were arguing for a bit of humanity to be shown; for all this nonsense to be abandoned, but no; children or not, all those taking up their democratic right to protest, must be made to suffer; must remain until the big strong force holding them, chose to release them.
That was why the Nov 10 demo was so much better. Not all that many police, therefore relatively little taxpayers' money wasted on police wages; no cruelty, no violence to speak of.

Admittedly there was a lot of broken glass, but, funny - I'd have thought the Tories would have revelled in that (John Vavassour de Quentin Jones/was very fond of throwing stones/ ... Like many of the upper class/He liked the sound of Broken Glass' Hilaire Belloc, always a good reference and comfort in times of trouble, I find.)

Could it be that Desiderata is Princess Anne?
Desiderata, your Princessness, I remember all those years ago when you loftily said you weren't going to university because you thought it 'an overrated pastime'. That also explains why you don't think the hoi polloi should go there either.

My! You do have a good memory

My step-daughter is a doctor, and my step-son is training to be an architect. The other two are training to be a nurse, and a furniture designer, respectively.

Two go/went to Uni, and two go to college. I've no problem with uni. I have a problem with the sheer numbers of people who aspire to go, and who end up with Micky Mouse degrees in non-vocational subjects.

If you think if should be free for all, then I, as a tax payer, am entitled to say, no bloody way.

In fact, taking the argument to its logical conclusion, university education could conceivably be free if only 10% attended. But when every Tom, Dick and Harry aspires, it becomes economically untenable.

Thank you Dotnet, and thanks to your daughter too. She'll always remember this - taking part in an important historical event.

Thanks to Betelguese and Electrokin for the other links, too. The Laurie Penny article was excellent.

Well this is just going to escalate, isn't it? Someone in the government needs to listen to these kids and think again. The police need to remember the demonstrators are kids and members of the public, not enemies of the state. If they don't, someone will get hurt.

What I don't understand is what the government is up to. Clearly, sooner or later, there were going to be protests. If you announce cut after cut in a short period of time, and target them all at certain groups of people, then obviously they're not going to lie down and take it. The loss of the EMA plus the hike in uni fees, plus the other cuts in education (eg sports funding) affect the kids whose parents are worrying about being made redundant, fixed tenancies and housing benefit changes.

So they must have been expecting something like this. If they weren't then they should have been.

It's not going to be easy to put the lid on things now.

If you want to see scary student demonstrators, look at this:

(from Whoknew2010 on another thread).

Warms the cockles.